Tables turned

After lifetime of giving, former pastors find selves in need of assistance

Greg and REnee Wood turned their ministry, Word of Life, over to their son as Greg is battling colon cancer and Renee breast cancer. They were able to meet financial needs with help from Hopelink. (Marcus Yam/Seattle Times/MCT)

By sandi doughton
mcclatchy-tribune

Published: January 11, 2014;Last modified: January 11, 2014 05:00AM

SEATTLE — Throughout their married life, Greg and Renee Wood have always been the ones who take care of other people.

As Christian pastors for nearly 20 years, they tended to the spiritual — and temporal — needs of their congregation.

As parents, they raised six children of their own while also taking in dozens of abused youngsters.

As active members of their community, they organized a program to provide backpacks filled with school supplies for students in need.

So when the Woods found themselves sick, unemployed and on the brink of being evicted from their home last year, asking for help didn’t come easily to them.

After all, they had coped with misfortune before.

Two years after their eldest son died from a seizure in 2004, Renee was diagnosed with breast cancer. Her first rounds of treatment went well, though, knocking the disease into remission.

Even after the cancer came back with a vengeance and Renee was forced to stop working, she and Greg were able to keep their heads above water.

Prayers answered

But when Greg was diagnosed with advanced colon cancer in June, their financial safety net evaporated.

With the main breadwinner too weak to work — and uninsured — the family fell behind on rent and utilities and even had a hard time buying groceries.

“It felt like we’d been hit with bombs, one after the other,” Renee said.

Then a friend told her about Hopelink.

With centers across north and east King County, Wash., the organization provides a range of services aimed mostly at helping people cope with crises and get back on their feet. Like many of the 60,000 people Hopelink serves each year, Renee’s first contact came through one of the group’s five food banks.

There, she discovered that Hopelink also provides emergency assistance to keep people from being evicted.

Founded in 1971 by laid-off Boeing workers who banded together to help each other find jobs, Hopelink continues that mission with programs to help people improve their resumes and job-hunting skills. The nonprofit provides transportation services along with temporary housing, adult education and advice on money management.

“We’re trying to help people get back to self-sufficiency,” said spokeswoman Kris Betker.

For Greg and Renee Wood, rent assistance helped solve their most pressing financial need. Ongoing visits to the food bank keep groceries in the fridge while both husband and wife undergo physically draining chemotherapy.

“This is a difficult time for them,” said Kay Hockeiser, an emergency services specialist at Hopelink’s Kirkland, Wash., center. “They have been hard working all their lives, and they really do want to work, but because of these unfortunate events they can’t.”

It’s particularly tough on Greg.

Greg, 60, and Renee, 58, passed the leadership of their Lynnwood, Wash., ministry, Word of Life, to their son Sheldon a couple of years ago. Making a living as a pastor is rarely a lucrative business, said Greg.

After Greg gave up church work, he took a job at U-Haul, and was two months away from being eligible for health insurance when he received his cancer diagnosis.

Greg and Renee both hope they’ll be able to work again soon. That would be the best possible outcome, Hockeiser said.